Wild Thing
by ausllyxaustinally
Summary: Ally Dawson is the known bad girl. Austin Moon is the known good guy. Who knows what is possible when two polar opposites are paired together for a three week Music Project. Perhaps music is the one thing that just makes these two fit. [COMPLETELY AU AND OOC]
1. Chapter 1

**WILD THING:**

**SUMMARY:**

**Ally Dawson is the known bad girl. Austin Moon is the known good guy. Who knows what is possible when two polar opposites are paired together for a three week Music Project. Perhaps music is the one thing that just makes these two fit. [COMPLETELY AU AND OOC] **

_Chapter One_

**Friday 9:26 P.M.**

Austin answers his ringing cell phone. "Hello?" he greets into the phone, relaxing into the driver's seat of his car.

"Hey, Austin," greets his female friend, Trish. Austin frowns, recognizing the sound of loud music in the background.

"Trish? Where are you?" Austin questions, furrowing his brows.

"I know you told me not to go to Cassidy's party, but I just wanted to check it out!" Trish explains quickly. Austin sighs. "And it's sort of...Well, there's a lot of weird people here. Would you mind picking me up?"

Austin groans. He doesn't exactly like walking into those party houses. It always reeked of beer and cigarette smoke, the people were always loud, drunk, and obnoxious. Austin really did prefer sitting alone in his room with his guitar on Friday nights. "I'll be there in five," Austin hung up his phone. He started his car and then sped off into the direction of the party.

Austin pulls up in front of the giant beach house. He can hear the music from inside his car. The other students from Marino High School had been talking about this "exciting" party all week. Nothing they said even gave him the temptation to join them in their partying. Besides, Austin was better off at a silly charades party with his two best friends and instead of beer or drugs, they'd get drunk on soda and high on chips.

Austin gets slightly worried when Trish hasn't made it out of the large beach house so he decides to jump out of the car. He stuffs his keys into his pockets and slowly makes his way up the creaking steps of the beach house. He's hesitant but reminds himself that his friend was in there. He slowly opened the door and the reeking smell of sweaty teenagers, spilled beer, and cigarette smoke filled his nostrils immediately.

Austin grimaced but stepped into the house. He saw a couple of the guys he's hung out with at school hanging by the stairs or making out with a pretty girl, but Austin only shook his head and searched the place for his friend.

"Oh, Austin!" called Trish, waving at him. Austin spotted her trying to sneak her way out of a conversation with some drunk guy and so Austin slowly approached. "Gabe here was just telling me about his new car," Trish said.

"Trish, let's go," Austin said, impatiently. He didn't want to stay in here any longer. He had sworn to never go into a party and he doubted he'd ever want to step inside one again. Trish quickly nodded and said goodbye to the drunk boy who just stumbled his way to the backdoor to grab fresh air.

"Thank God, you're here. This was a mistake," Trish said, "Did you call Dez?" she asked, nervously. The last thing Trish wanted was for her boyfriend, somebody who is totally anti-parties, to find out where she was tonight.

"No," replied Austin, "It crossed my mind though," he told her. Trish sighed but thanked him for not spilling the beans to him.

Austin's eyes combed over the dancing bodies inside the beach house and his eyes landed on one specific girl: Ally Dawson. There she was dancing with a boy who looked two years younger than her, holding onto her hips as she swayed them with the beat of the music. She's running her fingers through her hair, throwing her arms up toward the ceiling, and laughing cheerfully.

Austin never exactly knew Ally, but he'd heard a lot about her. (Who hadn't? She was Ally Dawson!) He'd heard about how she sneaks out of the house nearly every night, deals drugs, drinks until she can't walk, she's never missed one party, and she's cheated on three boyfriends until she'd got what she wanted - a promiscuous reputation. Ally was the baddest girl to ever walk Marino High School. Austin always wondered if there was more to her, or if she was just born this way.

"Hey! Moon's here!"

Austin and Trish looked over to where the announcement was made. Austin politely smiled towards the group of people who seemed confused but happy to see Austin. He pointed his thumb towards the door proving that he needed to leave. Suddenly, somebody threw a strong arm around Austin's neck, pushing him towards the groupie.

"You just got here, don't tell me you're leaving," said the alcohol smelling boy who was nearly as tall as Austin. Trish groaned, _it's almost like drunk people don't want you to leave_, she thought to herself.

Austin laughed slightly, "Uh, Thanks, Mitchell," said Austin, "But I was just grabbing Trish and getting her home."

"It's not every day you see Austin Moon at a party, enjoy it!" encouraged another peer. Austin glanced over at Trish who gave him an apologetic look.

"Look, Guys, This isn't my thing," Austin told them, unwrapping Mitchell's arm from his neck, "I came for Trish, I've got her, and I'm leaving."

They didn't acknowledge his explanation when they were suddenly distracted by something, "Oh, Damn!" they cat-whistled. Austin frowned slightly and looked over to who they were distracted by.

Ally Dawson. Of course.

No longer was she grinding around in the crowd. She had taken herself and her red, alcohol filled solo cup and joined the DJ on the platform. Austin didn't particularly see anything to cat-whistle over. She wasn't undressing or dancing seductively like he'd expected her to, she was just throwing her arms in the air and spinning herself around - just as she did in the crowd, only this time, she pulled the DJ with her and started dancing with him. Her body touching his as he grinned excitedly. Austin shook his head and looked away. He grabbed Trish's arm and decided to leave the party.

"What do you think of her?" asked Trish, her ears buzzing from the loud music as they were greeted by the calm, silent air.

Austin arched his eye brows as he looked both ways before crossing the street and getting to his car, "Ally Dawson?" he questioned. Trish nodded. "I don't know. She's...not somebody I'd consider hanging out with. Is my consideration a good choice?"

Trish nodded and said, "She's bad news, no life, not even a future ahead of her. She's practically dying right now and doesn't even know it." Austin turned his keys in the ignition. "We used to hang out, you know," Trish said. Austin looked at Trish alarmed.

"You hung out with Ally Dawson?" he gawked. Trish nodded. Austin stared at her, "We've been friends since the tenth grade and you've never mentioned this."

Trish shrugged, "I guess it slipped my mind. I wasn't too concerned about her," she said, "She wasn't always like that. Sometimes I wonder what happened."

"What do you mean?" Austin questioned.

Trish buckled herself in, "I mean, we were practically best friends since the first grade. We hung out every day after school and all day on the weekends. She was an amazing friend, and she was very well aware of it. But as time went on, I basically watched her deteriorate; Candy became drugs, fun rolling around on the grass became rolling in weed. Slowly, she started acting differently, she started ditching out on plans, mouthing off to the teachers, skipping classes, wearing tons of makeup. I'd caught her smoking in the sixth grade and in the summer she showed up to my birthday party drunk. By the time seventh grade rolled around, she wasn't even the same person anymore. She started partying in sixth grade. Did you know her Dad would take her to those parties?" questioned Trish. Austin looked at her before looking towards the house where the window displayed a good view of Ally taking off her shirt to the crowd with a huge, drunk grin on her face. "Eventually, she stopped calling me and hanging out, she started hanging out with new people. People who were just like her. I didn't mind it really, I never exactly pictured hanging out with somebody who was drinking, partying, and dealing. She disappeared one day, near the end of seventh grade and then it went around the school that her Dad had taken her to California. But by tenth grade, she showed up again like... _that_." Trish pointed towards the house where a couple of other girls were now on the platform, dancing their hearts out with Ally.

"So, her home life sucks?" Austin questioned, finally shifting the stick into drive and ripping away from the house before they'd see something they didn't need to.

"I guess so," Trish said, "I never recognized it as a kid because her Dad was always gone. But I look back now and I see it. I see just how awful she was raised. Her mom took off when she was three, nobody knew where she went, and her Dad...Well, his idea of 'spending time with her' was taking her to parties and teaching her how to gulp down a shot."

Austin stared at Trish for a moment before glancing into the rear view mirror and watching the beach house become further and further away.

Trish said, "I'm just glad I got out of being her friend. Who knows where she could've dragged me down."

**. . . . . . . . . **

**Monday 3:02 P.M.**

Austin glanced over his shoulder for the third time during last period. Ally Dawson was sitting diagonal of him in the last row. He had never noticed her in this class before. The second semester of classes had started a couple months ago, he generally always recognized the faces in the classrooms but yet he had managed to never spare her a glance let alone acknowledge her existence. He wondered how she managed to stay out of his sight.

Ally was slouched in her seat, hiding her cellular phone under her desk as her thumbs tapped the letters on the touch screen swiftly. She glanced up every now and then to catch the teachers doings. She somehow managed to sneak the in-class texting. Austin never texted in class, unless it was absolutely necessary. It was important to him that he understood every word spoken in the class. Unlike all the slackers in Marino High, Austin actually wanted to graduate.

Dez sent Austin an odd look. He'd noticed Austin's casual over the shoulder glances which was odd because Austin wasn't one to zone out and gaze around the class room while the teacher was talking. Dez glanced over his shoulder but couldn't spot one girl who Austin would take an interest into. Austin smiled slightly at his best friend and focused on the board. He decided to drop the questions of how he'd never noticed Ally before until Friday.

"Miss Dawson," the teacher suddenly said, gazing to the sinister girl in the back row. Ally looked away from her phone screen and saw the teacher staring directly at her along with a couple of heads turned to stare at Ally. "Is there something on your phone that needs to be shared with the class?"

"Uh," Ally looked at her phone before looked up innocently at the teacher, "Not really, some chick got pregnant on Friday though." There were several snickers from the students around her. The teacher crossed her arms, a muscle in her jaw ticked. "Thank God it's not me," Ally mumbled to the student sitting left of her, her comment ending with a soft chortle. The student next to her was most likely Ally's friend as she laughed softly with Ally.

"Miss Dawson, your phone please," she held out her palm.

"Of course, Ms. Suzie," Ally responded giving her a red-lipped smirk as she leaped up from her chair and walked smoothly to Ms. Suzie, setting the phone into her palm. "Gonna need this back soon," Ally murmured humorously.

"I'll be the judge of that," Ms. Suzie said. Ally shrugged, smirking as she slouched back into her seat, sinking low into it. Ms. Suzie set Ally's phone onto her desk and cleared her throat. Austin stared back at Ally who was now just picking at old nail polish that was peeling on her finger nails. He slowly looked back at the teacher. Ally Dawson was sure a character - she was so chill, laid back, sinister, rueful, smooth, and wild.

"Well, now that we finished the movie we'd been watching for the last couple of days, we will be starting on our new assignment," Ms. Suzie announced. "You will be assigned a partner for this assignment," she said, collecting papers in her hands to hand out. "For this particular project, you and your partner will be writing a song together. You should know how to write one by now from what we've gone over in class and due to your strengths in music. You and your partner will be given the time limit of three weeks to write your song and then perform it to the class. This project will require effort, it is worth 50% of your grade so I suggest that you work wisely," she said, giving looks to certain students who obviously slacked. "This project will also require to be taking up a lot of your free time, you will not be given the opportunity to work on this project during class."

Grumbles were heard from students. Austin didn't understand why they were grumbling. This was a Music Class. It was an option that they had selected when registering for this year. Shouldn't they be enjoying this class? They had selected it themselves after all. Austin was never upset when it came to this class. He loved everything about it - the lectures, discussions, the instruments they got the opportunity to play, the concerts they were taken to, the in-class movies they watched. This class was great.

"I've paired you up with the partners I'm sure you will work best with. Some of you will be given the opportunity to allow partner swaps, but I'm keen with my choices," Ms. Suzie explained, "Tyler with Bella, Sarah with Kylee, Jonah with Michael, Dez with..." Dez and Austin crossed their fingers, "...Anna," Austin and Dez sighed disappointedly, "Jacob with Shawn, Stephanie with Carson, Austin with Ally..." The list went on but Austin caught the look of horror on Dez's face.

"Maybe we could swap. Ally and Anna together, you and I together," Dez said, "There's no way Ms. Suzie should risk your mark being with that _nobody_."

"Dez," Austin gave him a look. Despite everything Austin knows about Ally, he didn't think it was right to call her a nobody. In fact, Austin didn't think anybody deserved to be called a nobody. Dez sighed. Austin was known for his kind personality and the way he only served people with respect and loyalty. He never talked bad about anybody, probably why a lot of girls seemed to have a crush on Austin.

"Austin, she'll wreck your grade," Dez said, "She'll bring your grade down so low, you'll have to take an extra course just to graduate. She parties every night, do you really think she'd give up her free time to work on a song? She doesn't care, you'd do everything."

Austin sighed, "I know she's not good news, Dez, but she doesn't deserve to be called a nobody," Austin argued.

"Then you obviously don't know a lot about her," Dez mumbled. Austin looked at his best friend but before he could say anything, Dez caught Ms. Suzie's arm to stop her as she walked by their desks. "Ms. Suzie, would you mind if Ally and Anna work together instead? Then Austin and I could work together?"

Ms. Suzie glanced at the two boys before shaking her head, "I would accept but Austin's got the highest grade in this class," her eyes connected with Austin's brown ones, "Ally needs this grade."

Dez sighed, dropping his hand, listening to Ms. Suzie apologize before she walked away to attend to a student who had a question. Austin and Dez shared a glance.

"It can't be that bad," Austin told Dez, shrugging.

Dez parted his lips to reply but was interrupted when Ally suddenly stood up and blurted loudly, "Who the hell is Austin?!"

Austin grimaced slightly before raising his hand and slowly giving her a wave with his pointer finger. It caught Ally's attention as she focused on the blonde boy. She'd seen him around, but she figured he must be a loser considering she'd never seen him at a party before. Because partying was everything in the eyes of Ally Dawson.

Or was it?

"Perfect," Ally grinned smugly at him before dropping down into her seat again, not taking her eyes from him.

Austin slowly looked back at Dez, "I take it back," he murmured, "She's gonna be a handful." Dez nodded knowingly before the two boys waited for Ms. Suzie to give more instructions.

**. . . . . . . . **

**3:37 P.M.**

Austin shut his locker noisily before he jumped, seeing the sudden figure leaning against the lockers. Austin stared for a moment as he registered what just happened. He adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder as Ally grinned sinisterly at him. "Hey," she said.

"Hi," Austin said, unsurely.

"It seems that we're partners for that project," Ally said, "Exciting," she gave him a lazy grin. Austin watched her mouth as she chewed her wad of gum. He focused away from her mouth and nodded awkwardly. Ally used the arm that was hiding behind her back to extend toward him, "Well, I'm Ally." She smirked again.

Austin stared down at her hand before shaking it lightly, "Austin." he said. Ally grinned at him one last time.

"So, I'll be seeing you around then?" Ally said, her gum cracking between her teeth. Austin nodded.

"I guess you will," he said.

"Great," she smirked before taking off down the hallway, her bag smacked the back of her thighs as she walked in her worn down Chuck Taylor's. Ally casts Austin one last glance with a smirk pulling on her lips as she disappears around the corner. Austin stares at the corner for a few long moments before he's distracted by two voices calling for him.

"Austin!" shouted Trish, running down the hall and grabbing onto him so she wouldn't slip. She laughed as Dez slid past her and wasn't all too lucky so he was now on the ground groaning. The halls were practically empty besides a couple of kids who were still grabbing their things from their lockers or even spending time with their boyfriends/girlfriends.

Austin laughed, shaking his head. Austin and Trish helped Dez from the ground. "I think I just threw out my back," Dez groaned, attempting to stretch out his back until flinching in pain. When Dez felt a little better, he tossed a lanky arm around Trish's neck and they focused on their blonde friend.

"Are you ready?" Trish questioned him, nudging Dez forcefully when he pulled on the ends of her hair.

"Ready?" Austin questioned.

"Yeah, you're performing at the Jungle Cafe in an hour," Trish reminded him.

Austin's eyes filled with remembrance, "Oh, right," he then shook his head, "I don't know why that slipped my mind."

"Oh, I know why," Dez said, "Ally Dawson, that's why."

"What?" Trish and Austin chorused looking at Dez, startled.

"Austin got paired with her for his Music Project. Still feeling bad for you, buddy," Dez said.

"I'm hoping she won't be too bad. It's just three weeks," Austin said. Trish and Dez shrugged.

"Who cares about her," Trish said, "Let's get you ready for playing at the Cafe." Austin slowly nodded and followed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Tuesday 8:45 A.M**

"You sounded great last night, Austin," said a pretty girl coming up beside Austin. Austin glanced over and recognized her right away. Her name was Brooke and Austin was quite familiar with the word that had spread about her having a huge crush on him.

Austin grinned, "Thanks, Brooke."

Brooke looked entirely surprised that Austin knew her name. She smiled and tried hard not to blush. Austin chuckled slightly, but felt a little guilty. He knew what it was like to not have a crush return a mutual feeling, so he hoped he wouldn't lead her on. "Did you write that song?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I did," Austin nodded, "I love music and writing it. It's a lot of fun. Do you write music?"

"No," Brooke replied, "I love music, but I don't play any instruments or write lyrics. I do dance, though."

Austin smiled and nodded, "That's awesome. I dance, too. Not a whole lot, but enough to feel cool," he said, earning a giggle from Brooke. Austin wanted a way to get out of this conversation, but he couldn't find one. Austin was the nice, musical guy at school, so it wasn't a mystery why he seemed to have a few girls come up to him and beg for his number, but sometimes he did wish the girls would leave him alone. He figured he should get used to it if his dream is to be a singer.

"Are you going to the Bonfire Thursday night?" asked Brooke. Austin looked at her and arched an eye brow.

"Bonfire?" he repeated.

"Yeah," replied Brooke, "Kira Starr's Dad rented out some beach park for her to invite however many people she wanted for a Bonfire. It's just for something fun. A lot of people are going. It's basically just a place to hang out along Miami's beach. There's going to be a lot of music and dancing, some food, and games. It should be a lot of fun."

"Hm," Austin hummed. He never liked parties, but he wondered if the Bonfire really would be fun. He could invite Dez and Trish and they could just do something themselves.

"Would you like to go with me?" Brooke questioned and Austin noticed her chest halt in movement as she held her breath.

Austin couldn't be rude, so he grinned and said, "Definitely." Austin had no idea a girl could smile so big. He chuckled slightly. "So, Thursday?"

"Yeah at 8 PM. Here's my address," Brooke handed him a paper after scribbling down her address onto it. She handed it to him before smiling again and skipping away to tell her friends that she just asked out Austin Moon and he said yes.

Austin stared at her address before shrugging. It couldn't be too bad.

**. . . . . . **

**Thursday 8:00 P.M**

"I thought you didn't like Brooke," Trish said as Austin pulled up in front of Brooke's house.

"I don't, but she looked too hopeful. It's just tonight. I'll assure her at some point that I don't return the feelings that she has for me and then it'll be okay." Austin said.

"So, you're going to humiliate her?" asked Trish.

"What? No," Austin frowned, "I didn't want her to feel bad when she asked me so I said yes, but I'll tell her later that I don't..." Austin trailed off before he sighed. He hadn't thought this through. He was going to embarrass her. But what could he do about it now? Perhaps, he'll end up liking Brooke and things would turn out for the better.

"You're not even a gentlemen," Dez said, "She's already coming towards us."

Austin looked out the window and sighed. He forced a smile and reached across the seat to open the door for Brooke. Brooke grinned at him and got into the passenger side. "Hi, Austin," she said.

"Hey," he said, biting the inside of his cheek. He really felt guilty. Brooke's smile slowly faded when she noticed the two extra bodies in the back. She turned to get a full look at them.

"Oh...You brought...your friends," Brooke struggled to keep the smile on her face.

"Yeah, they wanted to come, too," Austin said, not noticing the disappointment in her eyes but Trish and Dez did so they smiled apologetically at her. Austin drove away and headed for Miami Beach.

**8:12 P.M.**

"You seem a little unsure," Brooke said, staring up at Austin. He glanced down at her and smiled.

"I just...I don't really go to these kinds of things," he said.

"You should," Brooke smiled, "They're fun. It's a good way to loosen up when homework starts to stress you out." Austin slowly nodded. Brooke started looking around, "I'm pretty sure Ally's here, too. She wouldn't dream on missing a night out."

Austin, Dez and Trish all looked at Brooke, slightly shocked. Trish was the first one to speak up, "Oh...You're...You're friends with Ally," Trish glanced towards Austin and Dez.

Brooke smiled, looking at Trish oddly and nodded, "Of course, Why?"

"No...No reason," Trish said, "So you like...the party scene?"

"Well, I don't see why I shouldn't. Like I said, it's a good way to just loosen up from stress. Although, I don't like going as much as my other friends do. But it doesn't hurt every now and then." she said. Trish, Dez, and Austin nodded.

Dez and Trish gave Austin soulful looks. Austin tried to ignore them as the group walked towards the beach where they could already hear chatter and laughter, along with the smell of fire.

Austin stopped as he looked around. He relaxed when he saw that it wasn't like a party. In fact, he even saw a few kids who don't generally go to parties hanging around the fire. There were people walking around in the water, water gun fights, some playing Frisbee far off, others just warming themselves from the fire, and other people just visiting. It was pretty laid back. There was a low beat of music playing and a table where food was stacked.

"This doesn't look awful," Trish commented. Austin and Dez nodded in agreement, following Brooke who was confidently walking towards the bonfire party.

"What do you want to do first?" Brooke asked Austin, turning to walk by his side.

"Oh, uh, it doesn't matter to me," Austin said, "You can do your thing. We'll do ours. I don't want to...take away from you having a good time."

"It's alright, I'll do whatever you want to do." Brooke offered. Austin smiled slightly. They four teenagers took their seats on a few logs that were set up around the fire. Austin's eyes wandered around his peers who seemed to be having tons of fun.

"So, you've really never hung out with these people before?" Brooke questioned. Austin looked around, _No, because a majority of them are partiers, _Austin thought.

"I know of them, but I don't exactly hang out with them. I'm not into a lot of this stuff." Austin admitted to Brooke. Brooke nodded slowly.

"Well, that's okay," she grinned at him, "But you've missed out. A lot of fun happens around these kinds of things."

Austin was distracted by Brooke who kept talking to him. He learned a lot about her, like she loved to surf, as did he, she preferred dogs over cats, as did he, she loved pancakes, as did he, she did happen to care about her grades, as did he, and he listened to her share a few of her good memories. Austin decided Brooke wasn't all that bad, she was actually entertaining to talk to.

Soon enough, Brooke had managed to form a conversation with Trish and Dez and they seemed to enjoy her company as well. The conversations was light and a witty up until somebody interrupted their conversation by shouting over the entire beach, "Dawson has made it!" It was followed by cheers and shouts of joy.

Ally Dawson strolled in with a smirk and sinister eyes. She was dressed in denim, ripped shorts that revealed her flawless legs and then a fancy black shirt that made her become an eye-popper and catch everyone's attention. Ally kicked off her shoes that were on her feet and didn't mind where they landed as she continued her way, barefoot.

She's immediately greeted by many individuals who practically worshipped her. She's engulfed into a dozen conversations. "Ally!" Brooke cheered, jumping up from Austin's side and jogging towards Ally. Austin exchanged a glance with Dez and Trish.

Austin watched as Ally focused on whoever called her name. Ally forms a smirking grin on her face and tosses a thin arm around Brooke's neck. Brooke laughs in response before saying something that makes Ally's grin sinisterly.

Ally makes her way to the back of a truck where the trunk was open. Two big speakers were sitting, releasing music to the beach. Ally cranks it up until she can barely hear herself think. The usual day-to-day partier cheer in excitement meanwhile the people who are a lot like Austin, Dez, and Trish, just grimace and stop enjoying themselves.

That's when Austin sees it; the red, solo cup they hand to Ally with wide grins splitting their faces. Ally's lips twist into a smirk as she takes the cup and starts gulping down the liquid in the cup. The small crowd around her chants for her to keep gulping and she grins when she pulls the now empty cup away from her lips and tosses it over her shoulder. Austin shook his head subtly. He wondered if she knew that she was heading down a bad road. Austin stares in incredulity as they hand her another one. And it's with the no hesitation that Ally gulps down the liquid swiftly, emptying the cup before she smirks at the crowd around her and crumples the plastic cup in her hand before dropping it. He was appalled that people actually _encourage_ this kind of behavior. He then reminded himself that this was high school, why wouldn't they encourage it?

He suddenly sees Brooke making her way back to Austin, a grin on her face. His stomach twists uncomfortably as he now knows Brooke is one of the many people who encourage Ally's bad behavior. She sits down next to him. "Have you loosened up yet?" asked Brooke.

"Not really," he said, honestly.

Brooke sighs, "You should try to have some fun. I'm sure you'll start to enjoy yourself now that Ally's here. She makes everything fun." Austin looked at Brooke unsurely but nodded anyways as he focused on Ally again. They were still handing her cups. It seemed to him that they purposely try to get her drunk for their own entertainment.

Suddenly, Austin said to Brooke, "Why do you guys do that?"

"Do what?" Brooke questioned.

"That," he nodded towards Ally, "You just keep handing her drinks and cheering her on for it. Why would you do that to her?"

Brooke was confused. She laughed slightly and glanced at Austin before looking back at Ally, "It's not like we're forcing it on her. We're her friends, we know what she likes. We just offer her a cup and she takes it. Nobody forces her to down that drink, she does it herself. It's fun, too. Ally comes alive when she parties. It's fun and entertaining to watch. This is who she is."

Austin stared over at Ally. His stomach felt unsettled as he watched her. He had this ton of empathy sit inside his intestines as she kept going at the drinks while the people around her filmed her and laughed loudly. Austin felt like they were making fun of her and she didn't even know it.

"Besides, It's Ally," Brooke giggled, "We all know she's going to end dead-beat like her mom," Austin looked at Brooke, "She's a joke. She's not going anywhere, we might as well have fun with her while it lasts."

_Some friends, _Austin thought sourly. He frowned at her slightly before looking back at Ally. She was making her way toward the bonfire now. She sits down in the sand, her legs folded towards her chest and arms around her knees. She stares at the fire, watching the sparks and ashes float until they disappeared in the air. Austin watched the fire's reflection in her eyes as her face glowed from the heat.

Austin was still eyeing her when she caught his stare. Her eyes held that glint of amusement as she smirked at him. Austin remembered they hadn't even started their project for Music Class and he wondered if they would ever get around to it. Ally seemed to dread the project and Austin was afraid to ask her when they should start on it.

Brooke dismisses herself to go visit with a few friends. Ally's smirk widens and she gets up, not even wobbling like Austin imagined she would, and she takes Brooke's spot, sitting next to him. Austin looks over at her in curiosity.

"You and Brooke," Ally smirks, "She's annoying, probably won't last long." Ally tells him. Austin didn't reply. "Alright, the silent treatment," she focused on the flames dispersing in front of her. "I have to say, didn't think you'd be here. Haven't seen you at any parties."

"That's because I don't go to parties," Austin said.

"Do they intimidate you?" Ally questioned, smirking again.

"No," Austin replied, "I just don't belong there. That's all."

Ally nodded, "You're right; You don't." she said. Austin looked at her. "You hardly belong here, so what are you doing?"

"Brooke invited me," Austin said. Ally nodded again. Austin decided to question her about their project, "So, Are we ever going to work on our music project?"

"Ah," Ally grinned, "You like to talk about school, huh?" she arched an eye brow. Ally cocked her head to the side in amusement; Austin was different. He didn't glare at her, snap at her, he didn't roll his eyes, he just listened and simply wouldn't reply to her sarcastic remarks. "Alright, fine," she said, "When should we begin?"

"Tomorrow?" questioned Austin, "I know of a place where there's a private music room. We could go there, unless you have other thoughts."

Ally shook her head, "Sounds like a plan," she said. Somebody walks by and she grins, reaching her hand out to take a cup. Austin watches her place the cup's rim to her lips and start gulping down the liquid. He watched her throat bob with each gulp.

Austin slowly looked away and glanced over to Dez and Trish who were next to him trying to ignore her presence. Trish gave Austin a look. Austin nodded once and they all stood up.

"Leaving so soon?" Ally questioned, tossing the empty cup behind her. She giggled when she realized she'd hit one of her friends with it. They laugh for a moment until she sees Austin, Dez, and Trish leaving. Her eyes stay planted on Trish for a moment before she glances towards Brooke. "Brooke, I think your date is peacing out!"

Austin froze. He forgot about Brooke. He grinned nervously towards Brooke who was looking over. She waved at him as if giving him approval to leave without her before she dove back into a conversation with her friend. Ally smirked at Austin, "I guess she's letting you off her leash."

"See you tomorrow, Ally," Austin said confidently and firmly before leaving the Bonfire with Dez and Trish. Ally watched him walk away. She frowned, feeling annoyed and angry with him. He was different.

And Ally was annoyed by that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Friday 2:49 P.M.**

"I must say David Lang is my favourite music composer. He was a true-" Ms. Suzie was in mid-lecture when Ally Dawson suddenly came through the door, interrupting the class. It didn't take long for Ms. Suzie's startled look to contort into an aggravated one. "Miss. Dawson, I'm glad you could join us."

"I'm not," Ally scoffed, a smirk pressing against her lips. Her eyes were glassy and bloodshot, obviously having to have been in a little bit of mischief before showing up. Ms. Suzie pressed her lips together in a thin line, noticing the oddities of Ally. Ms. Suzie caught the reeking smell of pot on Ally and it wasn't a secret to the rest of the class as a few students snickered and others held the back of their wrists to their noses.

"Wow, man, you're sure lucky to be working with _that_," said Dallas, a boy who sat in front of Austin, pointing towards Ally while sarcasm oozed in his tone. Austin stared at Dallas for a moment before he focused on a slightly buzzed Ally Dawson.

"Miss. Dawson, Please wait for me outside," Ms. Suzie hissed, angrily. Ally's smirk widened, pointing at Ms. Suzie as if to say 'You got it!' before slowly turning around and walking out the door. Her walk was noticeable: her knees wobbled and she staggered. A couple of the students were surprised that she could even make it out the door without tripping on her own two feet.

"Dude, is she high?" chortled a student in a low whisper to his friend.

"Probably drunk, too," whispered another student, snickering while the chuckles and giggles were spread around the classroom as the students tried to guess with one another whether Ally was high or drunk, or possibly even both.

Interrupting the whispers and snickers, Ms. Suzie said, "Write this into your notebooks," she tapped the board with her finger, "No talking." She stepped out of the classroom.

Dez glanced at Austin, "And you have to work with her right after this class," said Dez. Austin's head snapped into Dez's direction.

"Guess work's being postponed again," mumbled Austin. He was a little bit irritated. He really wanted to work on that song. Austin hated falling behind on work and he felt that they needed to use their time wisely.

Ally was leaning against the wall outside the classroom, shifting from one leg to the other. She was fidgety, rubbing her back along the wall from side to side and feeling the coolness of it. The door suddenly opened and out walked Ms. Suzie. She closed the door and took a look at Ally. "What's going on?" Ms. Suzie questioned, folding her arms in front of her chest while she looked into Ally's glassy eyes.

"Nothing much," Ally grinned, a giggle slipped. Ms. Suzie studied Ally's features.

Ms. Suzie glanced around before looking back at Ally. She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice into a whisper, "You came to me after class last week, Miss Dawson, because you told me you want to graduate," the grin had fallen off of Ally's lips as she recalled in her own mind when she'd stayed after class and begged Ms. Suzie for help because she fretted whether or not she would graduate. "_This_," Ms. Suzie pointed to all of Ally, "Is not how you are going to graduate."

"So, I'm a dead beat," Ally shrugged, "Fine with me."

Ms. Suzie studied Ally's face for a long moment. There was no getting through to this girl. She just didn't care! Ms. Suzie felt stupid. She really thought that Ally was serious when she explained that she was worried about not graduating. Shame on her, because she should've known that Ally Dawson would _never _care about her future.

"Miss. Dawson," said Ms. Suzie. Ally focused on her teacher, although it was hard. Perhaps showing up to school blazed was not the smartest idea. "Are you capable of sitting in my class right now? Are you capable of paying attention? Or should I take this right to the principle?"

Ally stared at Ms. Suzie, slightly frozen in her thoughts. Principle meant cops and the cops meant big trouble. Ally had been in trouble with the cops before in the last couple of years, but she knew that she needed to stay out of the police's sight, she needed to protect her father. Who knows what could happen to him if the cops found him.

Ally twitched her lips into a smirk, "I'm always ready to listen," Ally tapped her ear. Ms. Suzie noticed the slow, floppy movements of Ally's actions but she took a deep breath and decided to give the girl a chance.

"Alright then," Ms. Suzie murmured and opened the classroom door. She gestured with her arm for Ally to walk in first. Ally grinned lazily and swiftly walked through the door, her movements dragging.

The low mumbles of student's voices were immediately ceased when Ally made her entrance, followed by Ms. Suzie. "Oh, she's back," whispered a student, surprised that Ms. Suzie would allow Ally back in.

Ally overheard the student and turned to him, "Hell yeah, I'm back," she grinned. The student snickered and accepted a high five from Ally. Ally glanced to her right and saw Austin's eyes watching her. She ignored him and continued her way to her seat, feeling his stare burning into her body. Ally slumped down in her usual seat. The one that was diagonal from Austin in the last row.

"Alright," Ms. Suzie bit her cheek. She stared at the white board as she fought her thoughts, wondering if having Ally back in the classroom was such a good idea. She cleared her throat and focused on her students, "Where were we?"

"Oh, um, famous composers," a girl sitting in the front row said. Ms. Suzie snapped her fingers and nodded, sinking into a lecture and forging the students to take notes.

Ally's eyes were faded, drifting around the class before they landed on Austin Moon who had his neck craned, staring at her. No glare, no frown, no arched eye brows. Just a simple stare. It wasn't even blank, Ally didn't know what kind of stare it was exactly. But it was different.

Ally grinned at him before blowing him a kiss with her pot-stained breath. Austin slowly turned his head away and stared at the board. He took a deep breath, hoping to clear his thoughts but they continued to wander to Ally Dawson.

**Friday 3:32**

"I'll meet up with you guys in a minute," Austin told Dez. Austin pointed his thumb towards Ally, gesturing to Dez who he needed to speak to. Dez glanced at Ally before back to Austin and nodded. He walked out of the classroom. Austin slowly turned around and cautiously walked towards Ally who was still sitting in her desk, scribbling onto her notebook, most likely trapped in her thoughts in some faraway land. "Ally," Austin called.

Ally heard her name and slowly peered up to see who the voice belonged to. That's when her eyes grew in size as she looked around the classroom confused. Where had everybody gone? The desks and chairs were empty. The only people left were herself, Austin, and Ms. Suzie who was collecting papers at her desk.

Austin noticed the lost look on her face. One corner of Austin's lips twitched into a polite smile, "Class ended a couple of minutes ago. Seemed like everyone was eager for their weekend," he chuckled softly.

Ally looked at Austin before jumping up from her seat and closing her notebook. "Thanks for telling me," Ally grinned at him, casting a wink. She was going to walk off when Austin grabbed her arm.

"Wait," Austin said. Ally looked down at his hand on her arm before slowly looking up at him, arching one thin brow. Austin released the hold on her arm. "I need to know when we're getting that project done. I figured we should probably work on the song since we've already delayed it a few days."

"Not tonight," Ally scoffed.

Austin looked at her oddly, "Why not?"

"Because it's Friday," Ally told him as if it were blatantly obvious, "I've got a party to go to, but I suppose you won't be there," Ally smirked, "_Angel_."

Austin ignored the name. "You told me yesterday that we would work on it today and I really think we should, well, get started. It's not just some poster project, it's a song. Songs take time and effort. We really need to get started."

Ally had a feeling that Austin was going to be adamant, so she saved herself the trouble and decided to agree. "Alright, then. If you insist. How about now?"

Austin looked at her alarmed, "Now?"

"Yes, since you're so sure that we need to get started, let's get started now. I would really love to go to this party and I don't want to be stuck writing some stupid song instead. If we work now, we get started on the song and I can go to the party tonight. We'll both get what we want." Ally explained.

Austin took a deep breath and nodded, "Um...Alright. There's a place I sort of wanted to work, because it's kinda like a practice room. Would it be okay if we worked there?"

Ally shrugged, "I don't care as long as I get to the party."

Austin nodded, "Um, Alright, Okay. I should probably tell my friends though."

Ally rolled her eyes and nodded, "You driving?"

Austin cleared his throat and nodded as he pulled out his phone to contact Dez and explain to him what was going on. Ally glanced at Austin from the corner of her eye before shaking her head.

**3:48 P.M.**

"Wow, an abandoned building. How interesting." Ally commented, snapping off her seatbelt.

"It's got a great music room. I use it all the time." Austin said.

"Aw, you're a _musical, angel boy_." Ally cooed, smirking at him. Austin looked at her, before shaking his head.

He took his keys from the ignition and didn't bother denying it to her. "You could say that." he said.

Ally got out of the car and stared at the abandoned building. Austin led her inside. They walked a flight of stairs until they came across a main floor. Austin motioned for her to keep following and finally they got to another department. The word SONIC BOOM was labeled. Austin flicked on the lights and Ally glanced around. It looked like a music store that could've been handy had not the building have been abandoned and shut down. It was dusty everywhere and things were packaged away.

"We're going to go in there?" Ally pointed up to the room at the top of the small staircase. Austin had already walked up three steps. He glanced back at Ally and nodded. "The roof isn't going to collapse, is it?" she questioned, following him anyway.

"No, the roof won't collapse," Austin tossed her a grin. Ally almost stopped in her steps. Nobody has ever exactly grinned at her before. Her friends grin at her, but not in the way Austin does. Austin grins at her with sincerity and kindness. She wasn't used to it. Ally wasn't stupid; she knew what the kids at school said about her and thought about her. The worst part of it all is that Ally thought of herself the same way, too: a deadbeat, a nobody, somebody with no future, somebody who most likely wouldn't make it past the age of 20 without getting killed first.

Austin opened a door that was labeled 'Practice Room'. He turned on the lights and Ally looked around. Austin obviously had been using it, as he'd previously told her, because the walls were painted blue and orange. There were posters along the walls, but the floor was an ugly, grey cement. Ally didn't judge too much, after all it was an abandoned building and nobody would probably want to renovate some stupid room.

Ally noticed that the room had a piano, an electric piano, an acoustic guitar, and an electric guitar. There was a pool table set up near the wall, probably if he ever brought his friends to hang out and there were a couple chairs sitting off to the side, but Ally didn't trust the chairs, they looked ready to break in half. Ally looked at Austin who smiled at her. "It smells in here," Ally commented.

Austin chuckled slightly, which surprised Ally. "Yeah, sometimes the dirt on the floors start to make this place smell bad and stuff. You probably shouldn't take your shoes off in here," he told her. Ally slowly nodded. "I'm always prepared," he grinned, holding up a bottle of febreze that had been sitting on one of the ledges in the room.

"Alright," Ally drawled, "So, the song," she said. Austin nodded. He dropped his bag onto the ground.

"Right. Um, we should probably find a topic...What would you like to write about?" questioned Austin.

"Does it matter?" Ally shrugged.

Austin nodded, "Yes, having a topic to sing about is quite important," Austin said, his tone nearly sarcastic. Ally realized how stupid her question was. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You've got brains, why don't you think of something?" Ally replied caustically.

"Well, it's sort of a partner project. We have to decide on something to gather. Let's start with getting to know each other a little bit," he suggested. Ally rolled her eyes. Austin continued, "It'll be pretty hard to write a song without understanding a bit of each other." Austin paused, "For example: I like writing music and performing it in front of people. Who do you like?"

Ally smirked at him, "I like Friday nights, partying, and getting drunk until I can't feel my legs," Ally's smirk widened, "Now _that's _fun."

Austin's smile faded slightly. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Um...My favourite color is yellow," Austin said. "You?"

"This question is a cliché," Ally said. Austin arched his eye brows, still awaiting her response. Ally rolled her eyes. "Red. My favourite color is red."

Austin grinned and nodded. "My favourite food is pancakes," his chocolate irises lit with excitement.

Ally stared at him flatly, "This is boring and stupid. I don't care what you're favourite color is, or your favourite food, or what you enjoy doing, and quite frankly, I don't care about _you_."

Austin faked a flinch, "Ah, that wasn't nice," he said. Ally furrowed her eye brows together. Austin was definitely different, Ally had decided, but she didn't know what it was that made him different.

"Look," Ally said, "Why don't you write the song? I mean, you just told me you like writing music and then I'll perform it with you in front of the class and then I don't have to talk to you anymore."

Austin looked at Ally. He noticed her eyes weren't so red anymore and she definitely didn't seemed buzzed, but she was most definitely bored and annoyed. "We can't do that. It's a partner project-"

"-I really don't care."

"I won't write the song and you won't get a grade," Austin shrugged.

Ally crossed her arms, laughing, "You think I care?"

"Knowing you, you probably need this grade," Austin said.

"Knowing me?" Ally scoffed, "You don't know me. Not even a little bit."

"Exactly! That's why we have to ask these cliché questions." Austin said, a smile tugging on his lips. Ally stared at him for a moment before sighing.

"Fine," she said. Ally was hesitant before she said, "My favourite food is pickles."

"Now, we're getting somewhere," Austin chuckled. They weren't really. In fact, it didn't matter how much they talked, or many questions were asked, neither of them felt even slightly closer.

Austin had moved over on the piano bench, resting his hands along the keys. He was about to play when he noticed Ally hadn't moved. He smiled warmly at her, "You can sit down."

"Next to you? Why?" questioned Ally, rudely. Her eyes roamed the practice room as if it didn't matter how many times she looked, she could never save its picture into her mind.

"Alright," Austin mumbled. He started to tinker with a melody. He thought the melody was starting to sound like something, so he continued.

Ally felt her phone vibrate, she glanced at it. She looked back towards Austin who was still busy with the melody. "I have to take off," Ally told him. Austin looked at him. They hadn't even been there for half an hour. Austin felt slightly annoyed, but he didn't show it.

"You have to leave?" he questioned, "Well, what about the song?"

"I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle," Ally casted him a grin, picking up her bag and tossing it over her shoulder. Ally began walking out of the practice room. Austin felt slightly upset. He really wanted to work on this song and he wasn't going to let her take credit for the song if she didn't even work on it.

"How about Monday? We'll start fresh! No weird questions, just songwriting!" Austin shouted, hoping his voice carried into the hallway.

"You got it!" Ally called back, her voice fading as she travelled down the stairs. Austin shook his head as he heard the door open as she left. He didn't know how somebody could be so careless in their senior year. Didn't she know that she needs to graduate? Does she want to repeat school?

Austin decided while he was in the Practice Room, he might as well practice his own stuff on the piano. He began playing, the melody soft and unique. He wondered if Ally would ever give this project her time of day. He recalled what Ms. Suzie had said: "She needs this grade." Austin was willing to help her get that grade. Maybe he just needs to reassure Ally that he can do that for her. If she's willing to put an effort in, of course.

**. . . . . **

**I personally despise this Chapter, but it's been sitting in my computer for a couple days now. I wanted to change it, but I just don't have any ideas for this chapter so I figured I'd just post it so I can move on with this story. **

**Reviews are cool, by the way.**


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